Oldlyweds
by bforbrigitta
Summary: Ryuki. Ruki dissects the concept of adulthood and learns that growing up doesn't have to mean growing apart.
1. The Invite

**Genre:** Slice-of-life

**Warning:** Strong language, snark and some sexual references.

* * *

**_Oldlyweds_**

Chapter I_  
"The Invite"  
_

* * *

With an ambient morning light filtering through the blinds, he woke up to pools of lilac every day. "Hi, baby. Happy birthday."

Sleepy eyes half closed, she grinned and rest a hand on his face. "Hi…"

He cracked a smile upon seeing the silver band on her finger; the one she _finally_ put on after years of insisting that marriage was "just an archaic façade" and a "sexist societal shit-parade". Ryo had played along at first, commending her on her use of alliteration—at least her 'fuck society' rants were catchier than they used to be. She was vehemently unrelenting at first, only to reveal later that she had actually secretly _wanted_ to marry him, denying it for so long because apparently, marriage was like, _so_ mainstream. After turning down Ryo's persistent proposals amidst her rage against The Man, she eventually grew to realise a simple truth; she wanted to marry him because the heart wanted what it wanted, _despite_ her mother's heartfelt warning that her biological clock was "ticking at the speed of light".

Besides, she added as an afterthought, after the news of her engagement had circulated among the neighbourhood soccer mums, the constant scrutiny of the barren wasteland that was her ovaries had suddenly stopped. Ruki then decided that she liked the idea of marriage.

He cupped her hand that was lingering on his cheek, and for a moment, there was warmth. "…_Fuck,_ 6:30?" Moment over.

"That's right," he said, edging closer to her under the sheets. "It's a beautiful Sunday morning! Doesn't thirty feel great?" He was awfully chirpy in the mornings—something she still couldn't handle, even after a year of marriage.

"…Go fuck yourself."

"Naughty girl," he taunted, "you shouldn't cuss on the Lord's day—"

"Oh I'm sorry, where are my manners? I meant to say '_please_ go fuck yourself'."

"Are you asking me to fuck _my_self, or fuck _your_—"

"You're disgusting."

Dismissing her attitude, he replied, chuckling, "But pumpkin, instead of staying grouchy…" He folded a masculine leg around her frame, and sensually ran his fingers up and down her bare chest and stomach. "Let's have another go—"

She smacked his hand away. "Urnngghh lemme _sleep,_" she groaned.

Ryo immediately turned over to the other side of the bed, sulking. "Fuck my life."

-x-x-x-

She emerged from the bathroom later that afternoon clad in just a towel, shrouded in the steam escaping out the open door. Their modest studio apartment left little room for movement, and certainly little room for decency. After Ryo's child-star status faded in his early twenties, he had moved to Tokyo from Kyushu to advance as a moderately successful author, and officially begin a relationship with Ruki. He bought the apartment a few years later to surprise Ruki before asking her to move in with him, and though the polished floorboards and white plasterboard walls were standard, he was finally sure that they had a place they could call 'their' home. He was nervous, however, and he'd assure her over and over that it "wasn't much"_, _and that he "wasn't sure" if she would like it, and although it wasn't comparable to the multi-billion yen estate she was used to, a simple _"it's cute,"_ from her was enough to ease his anxiety. Ruki was not a woman of compliments nor superlatives, and he knew that.

-x-x-x-

_"It's cute."  
_

_"Really?"_

_"Yeah."_

_Ryo breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God…"_

"_Why were you so worried?" she asked amusedly, wandering around.  
_

"_I didn't think you'd like it. I couldn't afford anything bigger…"_

_She laughed at him. "But you know I hate my house, right?"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I mean my grandma's always home but I never see her. I can't freaking see anyone in that house because it's just so damn big. I mean, here," she walked further into the centre of the empty unit, "I'd be able to see you while I'm cooking over there," she pointed at the kitchenette, "or reading over there, or watching TV over there."_

"_That's a little bit creepy but…" Before he could finish, Ryo looked at his girlfriend's face and then trailed off in his speech, dumbfounded. He decided not to disrupt the rare and uncharacteristic gentleness she was displaying with any smartass comment this time. "…I like the sound of that."_

_She smiled at him—a small smile—but with eyes so soft that it weakened his knees. "Me too." _

-x-x-x-

"So I was thinking," Ryo casually began, "for your dinner party tonight—"

"Dinner," she corrected, "it's a _dinner_, not a party. I don't want to make this some big fucking deal, I'm not a Kardashian."

"Okay, relax, for your 'dinner', I've—"

"—don't put air-quotes around 'dinner'—"

"_Okay_. For _dinner_, I've invited everyone—you know, Takato, Juri, Henry, Suzie—_but_, I was thinking—"

"Oh God. Nothing good ever comes out of you _thinking_…"

"I was _thinking_, since it's your thirtieth and it's a special day…"

"It's _not_ that special—"

"I think we should invite Hirokazu."

"_What_?" She stopped what she was doing to face him completely. "No, that is a _bad_ idea. A bad fucking idea. Henry's getting _divorced_, and you _know_ Kazu was in love with Alice for a really long time. Somehow I don't think Henry's divorce is going to bring them together."

"God, I know, but poor Henry… Alice is even taking Tomo back to Ireland with her because she won't have citizenship—could you imagine having your son taken away from you like that?" he murmured.

The group of childhood friends hadn't been as close since Henry's falling out with Hirokazu. Alice, Hirokazu's college sweetheart, ended up moving onto Henry after graduation followed by a speedy marriage, because nothing was more romantic to the Japanese than an unplanned pregnancy. Between Henry's wedding and Juri having the baby sometime later, they mostly went their separate ways, meeting only a few times a year during birthdays and anniversaries or the odd coffee date—usually futile attempts to honour their early years spent together as a tight-knit group. Suzie still came around, and Takato and Juri would occasionally drop by with their four-year-old, as would Kenta during his visits back home from the US where his lab-work was now based. Henry, however, avoided their apartment building like the plague upon hearing that Hirokazu had moved in next door to the Makino-Akiyamas. Instead, they'd have dinner, coffee, or meet at the park while Henry would watch his eight-year-old on the swings. Everyone was living quiet lives, devoid of conflict, scandal… and meaningful companionship.

Ruki suffered in particular; it was already hard for her to make friends, and not having the stability of the old group set off a different kind of anxiety than she'd ever experienced before.

Albeit quietly, she was the most desperate to have everyone back to the way they were.

She plopped herself onto the couch. "Look, Akiyama…" Even as an adult, she still struggled with words of comfort, hope, or gratitude, "It's… Um…" and she would search for the right words with her brows furrowed and lips tightly pursed. She was cutest under concentration, he thought. "I know you're trying to get everybody, you know, back together. For me. And it's… You know. Thanks." He offered her a gentle smile. "But you're risking a lot of shit hitting the fan tonight if you invite them both. I don't want my transition into old-maidery to be remembered as a shit storm of petulance and testosterone."

"Look, we're not in our twenties anymore—"

"Yeap, _don't_ stop reminding me…"

"We're adults. They can _handle_ being civil. I mean, we do it all the time—it's what this goddamn country is all about, isn't it?"

She sighed exasperatedly. "Fine, okay, we'll ask him, but you _know_ that he never says yes."

"It's your birthday."

"Every other time was my birthday too."

"But it wasn't the _big 3-0_," he said, beaming.

"Stop _saying_ that," she snapped.

"Okay, seriously, _what_ is this huge fixation on your age? '_Stop reminding me'_? '_Old-maidery_'?"

She groaned. "Look, I'm _thirty_ today. Do you know what people say about childless thirty year olds? My 'biological clock' is apparently out of fucking _control_ and in five years my ovaries are supposed to turn into mush. All my friends are getting pregnant and having babies, but mum still expects me to shoot those babies out A.S.A.P while keeping my waistline, and I quote, 'super svelte'—I mean _she_ did, of course. But what was she doing while keeping fit? _Not_ raising me if that's what you were wondering."

Tense and up-in-arms she huffed her aggravation and tossed a defiant foot on the end table. Ryo had dealt with a lot of things before—Ruki was an angry girl by nature—but he hardly ever saw her worry about… girl things.

"Wow, um, okay." He paused, unsure of what to say. He planned an inspiring pep-talk to bring her spirits back up, until he realised that he had been away from 'normal' women for so long he'd forgotten how to treat one.

"…Well, hey, honey, look on the bright side; I'm 34 and I'm okay?"

She rolled her eyes with scorn even fouler than usual. "_God_." Snatching a magazine from the end table, she insolently brought it up to her face and aggressively jerked it open.

Ryo, still confused, just got up and left without even knowing what he did wrong.

-x-x-x-

Things had calmed down by the next hour, when Ruki found herself accidentally immersed in the magazine article she had randomly opened up to in her strife. Ryo, used to her frequent hissy fits by now, went about his business as usual, settling on the pile of brochures on their dining table.

"…Hey do you guys have a hairdryer I could borrow I need to—woah, hel-_lo_ Ruki! Happy birthday, in_deed_!"

Hirokazu Shiota, with his head poking through the door, couldn't stop himself from gawking at the towel-clad redhed on the sofa. "I'm sorry dude, I know she's your wife but _damn_."

"What the _fuck_!" she cried, clutching the towel closer to her exposed body, and then promptly leaping up to disappear into the bathroom.

Ryo, indignant, got up. "I told you that spare key was for emergencies _only_, not so you could barge in for a hairdryer every time you watch a hair tutorial on _YouTube_."

"I'm _sorry_ but I've got a date tonight and I'm trying out some new hairstyles…"

"Well, you better cancel that date, man."

Hirokazu huffily turned to him. "What do you mean? Why—no—I—" He took a deep breath, and exhaled in a sigh, knowing exactly what was coming. "Look… I've told you guys, I don't go to these things…"

"But it's—"

"I know, I _know_ it's her birthday but… Look, I'll celebrate with you guys and your other friends tomorrow night like I always do."

"No, you won't." Ryo and Hirokazu both turned to face the now-clothed Ruki at the bathroom door. "Tomorrow will be May the 10th, and there will be nothing to celebrate, because it won't be my birthday."

"But—"

"Henry's getting divorced."

Silence.

"He's losing his son," she added quietly.

Ryo quickly shot his wife a disapproving look, an unsaid '_you shouldn't have said that_'. Hirokazu, on a rare occasion, was silent, likely contemplating over what to say next—also rare.

They both watched him warily for his next words.

"…Good."

Despite knowing how petty he sounded, and his best friends' evident disappointment, it was all Hirokazu could muster.

"Kazu, you shouldn't…"

He interrupted, "I'll think about it, okay?" He walked over to the kitchenette and opened the fridge. "But I'm letting you guys know that it's probably a no."

Ryo replied. "Ruki will be angry at you for a really long time," he warned, albeit half-jokingly.

"I will," she complied.

"Well," Hirokazu snickered. "We're all used to _that_ by now," he said, eliciting in a hearty laugh from his buddy.

"Ha, ha. Fucking hi_lar_ious," she responded dryly.

As Ruki went back to the sofa and Ryo to the table, Hirokazu remained at the fridge, rummaging. "Man, what is this?"

"What's what?"

"All your food's _organic_ or _brown_ or… Rice based milk? What is this shit? Where's all the _cow_'s milk like God intended?" The rummaging continued, not at all reserved at the home of his childhood friends.

"…I'm lactose intolerant."

Hirokazu immediately craned his neck to look back at Ruki. "What? No you're not."

"Yes… I am."

"I've known you for like… Twenty years. You're not."

Ryo and Ruki exchanged glances. "_Yes_," she persisted, "I am."

He didn't say anything for a while and then… "Oh… That explains the tiny breasts… _Fuck,_ I'm a bad friend."

"_Hey_…!"

He laughed, eventually leaving the fridge empty-handed after finding nothing interesting. When he returned face them, Hirokazu watched the two—Ruki stretched out on the couch, and Ryo at the table, pamphlets in hand. "Wow," he said, leaning against their kitchen counter.

"…What?"

"You guys are like, _so_ married."

"Excuse me?"

"Married. You guys are so _married_. Look at you two—she was _naked_ under that towel and you guys were just sitting around _reading_, and being _quiet_, and _not_ having sex."

Ryo chuckled. "We were apparently mad at each other."

"Exactly!" Perplexed, they glanced at each other, then back at Hirokazu. "Look—okay—Ryo, what does it say in there about uhhh, dwindling sex lives?"

"First of all, dude, I was reading travel brochures, not fucking _Cosmo_. Second of all, our sex life is not _dwindling_." He made sure to air-quote 'dwindling'. "It's _evolved_. We don't just 'have sex'; we _make love_…"

"Oh _God_," she interrupted.

"What?" That was rude! He didn't appreciate that.

"Is your _dick_ made out of _cheese_? And don't say 'make love'. Ever. It makes me, like, nauseous."

Hirokazu couldn't contain his laughter as the words rolled out of her mouth. Offended and incredulous, Ryo, with all his might, hurled a pamphlet at her to attempt some sort of establishment of authority. "Baby, I was in the middle of a heartfelt speech!"

"Right. The point was to let him know that marriage doesn't automatically destroy passionate relationships. What you just did, _honey_, was instead confirm dear Kazu's presumptions."

Ryo would time and time again be proven wrong by his own wife, and it would piss him off. But then the word 'wife' would get him all giggly inside again. "Well, okay, I mean, our sex is pretty wild," He looked to Ruki for approval. "isn't it?"

"'Wild' isn't exactly the word…"

Decency wasn't the only thing lost on the smallness of their home; creativity with positions was limited too. Thin walls were commonplace in Japanese apartments, and they weren't favourable with pervy neighbours like Hirokazu.

"But it's good, right?"

"Well," she started, "I don't lie, Akiyama; my grin in the mornings isn't because I love the fucking mornings." She shot him a cheeky smile. "It also helps that you were, you know, abundantly blessed."

"Oh my_ God_." Hirokazu's face scrunched up into what could only be described as a hybrid of horror and disgust. "Don't say that. Not while I'm _in_ this conversation. I don't want to know about my buddy's _thing_, okay."

"What?"

"His _thing_."

"You mean his giant penis—"

"—STOP!"

"You brought it up, dude."

"I didn't wanna go into 'intimate details'!"

While Hirokazu was visibly cringing, Ruki turned to Ryo, biting her lip. "I dunno, now I kinda do."

Ryo's lusty gaze mirrored hers. "How intimate, baby?"

"As much as you want—"

"—I'm _leaving_! If anyone cares." Hirokazu, ever the timely one, bolted out the door at the speed of his discomfort.

"…We better be seeing you tonight! Or else!"

Hirokazu, already out the door, heard the call and promptly checked his watch.

He hadn't seen the others for three or so years, and Henry for a good eight. At that instant, he had a brief flashback of their high school years together—lunch on the rooftop, laughing, fooling around—and was momentarily struck with nostalgia.

2:20pm. It wouldn't be too late to cancel his date, would it?

* * *

_To be continued_

Coming soon – _Chapter II: "The Dinner"_

* * *

A/N: Reviews are always appreciated!_  
_


	2. The Dinner

**Warning:** Strong language, snark and sexual references.

* * *

**_Oldlyweds_**

Chapter II  
_"The Dinner"_

* * *

Ruki, ever the modest one, loathed fancy restaurants; it reminded her too much of her extravagant upbringing, courtesy of her mother and her expensive tastes. She had to be prepared to begin a similar path of overindulgence, however, as it turned out Ryo had a comparable affinity for the posh and luxurious.

Despite Ruki's preference for the stricitly bourgeois and the desire to avoid the pretention of Tokyo's upper crust, they found themselves in a ritzy Ginza bar, snacking on hors d'oeuvres while waiting for the others to arrive.

"Could I get another cocktail, please? Make that a Blue Hawaii."

"Ruki," he scolded, "That's two already. It's still another five minutes until everybody's supposed to be here."

"Look, something tells me Kazu will be coming tonight. He's going to say something inappropriate, and make things awkward, and then everyone's going to miserable."

"And?"

"I may as well be drunk for it," she drawled.

Ryo sighed. "I think you should give Kazu a little more credit than that."

"Why should I?" The waitress returned to their table with the Blue Hawaii. Ruki flashed her a courteous smile. "Thanks."

"Because he's a _grown man_."

She took a gulp. "A grown man_child_."

"C'mon, honey, you've seen how much he's grown up over the years…"

"No, if he really _had_ grown up, he and Henry wouldn't be _having_ this childish feud and would have made up years ago. So no, I _don't_ think he's grown up all that much."

"Why are you so harsh on him?"

"_Because_, Ryo," She rarely called him by his first name, and when she did it often meant she was vulnerable, drunk, or both. Averting eye contact, she continued, "I _miss_ everyone."

He was taken aback by her unusual openness, and he couldn't think of anything to say in return. Rightfully on time, however, the tension in the air was relieved as a familiar hand landed on Ryo's shoulder.

"Takato!"

"Hey, man. How's it going? Ruki, happy birthday!"

"Thanks."

"Everything's great. Take a seat!"

Juri followed behind Takato, uttering her greetings and birthday wishes. Before taking a seat, she approached Ruki to invite her in for a hug, which Ruki gladly took. She, not being the warmest of people, only reserved such public displays of affection for Juri; having been her only girl friend for much of her life, particularly the tumultuous early years, Ruki revered her as the closest of all her friends.

It was only during the tight hug that Ruki noticed something peculiar. She pulled away and looked down to discover the slight swell of Juri's stomach.

"You're… pregnant."

Juri giggled shyly, tucking a hair behind her ear. "Yeah. Three months."

"Wow!" Ryo chirped. "Congratulations, you guys!" He patted his buddy on the back, and as he tossed in the usual '_when's it due?_' and '_the little one must be thrilled_', Ruki cut in, face fallen.

"…Why didn't you tell me?"

Their smiles disappeared, and an awkward silence followed. Ruki chugged her drink, and immediately gestured to the waitress for another one.

"Ruki…" Ryo cautioned her.

"What? I'm just saying, she told me when she was pregnant with Erika." She didn't want to be lectured about how petty she was being, what a trifling matter it was, or how there was no need to be so sensitive—she already knew all of that. She herself was surprised by her reaction. Maybe it was the alcohol.

"Sorry, Juri, Ruki's just been a bit edgy about turning thirty and everything…"

"Don't tell people about how I feel, you know _nothing _about how I feel—"

"—I do know how you feel—"

"No you _don't_, and I'm not sorry—"

"No, she has nothing to be sorry about," Juri assured timidly, stopping the two mid squabble. "I should've told her. I guess it just… Slipped my mind." A nervous smile followed, and the clank of Ruki's glass against the table was heard as she finished her drink again.

"_Slipped your mind?_" She repeated dubiously. "Right. Because there's a fetus just _casually_ growing in your cervix but you just _caaasually_ forgot to tell your best friend. No _biggie_ at all!"

"Um, actually, fetuses g-grow in the uterus…"

"Shut up, Juri," she snapped, taking another sip.

Juri frowned, sick of being pushed around. She was twenty-nine, for God's sake, not sixteen anymore. "You know what, Ruki?" She looked up from her drink with disdain, and as she did, Juri looked away, mumbling, "You can be a real bitch when you're drunk."

Takato and Ryo could only watch and exchange nervous glances as their wives withheld any further communication from each other. He'd never seen Ruki behave in this way before. Since knowing her as kids, she'd usually handle conflict with a lot more wit, snark, or tenacity. There was something _exposed_ about the way she reacted. Juri, however, was the real surprise—she would never have spoken to Ruki like that ten years ago.

Ryo sighed. _Women…_

"What's with the grim faces?"

They all turned their necks toward the source of the voice, and lit up at the arrival of Henry and Suzie on his arm, chirping their greetings while trying to ignore his unkempt hair and pale complexion.

"Wo-_how_!" He offered an inquisitive look to the substantially tipsy Ruki's outburst. "Hen, you look like _shit_," she slurred.

They all shot a look in Ruki's direction, only to turn back to him with sympathetic faces. Henry appeared gaunt and coarsely unshaven—a shadow of the prim and well-groomed man he usually was. His eye bags were dark, sluggish movement an indication sleepless nights, and his feeble smile barely recognisable as one that belonged to the natural-born leader. His appearance was in stark resemblance to his reality, because of that same thought that would prod at him in the back of his mind time and time again since the whole mess started; that maybe his situation was karma for stealing his best friend's girlfriend years ago.

Henry only contributed a woeful smile in response to Ruki's drunken remark, probably in pitiful agreement. When they sat down, Ryo placed a reassuring hand on Henry's arm. "Hey man, we're sorry about what happened."

"Thanks, guys." He returned another weak smile, and as concerned ones were exchanged around the table, the air died into another uncomfortable silence.

Cutting through it like a knife, however, Ruki suddenly howled into a cackle to the further discomfort of everyone else. "Well, _this_ is just fucking awkward, right!"

"Exactly how many cocktails have you had, Ruki?" Suzie asked, her face expressing obvious disapproval. The recent law school graduate was sensible and assertive, these attributes having rubbed off from Henry while growing up. Unlike her brother, however, she had no trouble facing Ruki whenever there was the risk of conflict.

"I don't know what you're tttalking about," she said, wobbling around in her chair. "Oi!" she called to the waitress, rather rudely. "Where—where's our dinner, man?"

"I'm sorry, it's coming shortly…"

"I didn't pay to eat tomorrow!" The waitress continued to bow profusely in return. "And I want one more of these too." The waitress nervously complied and took the empty cocktail glass.

"Ruki, I think you've had more than enough."

"No, _honey_, I want _more_."

Ryo took her arm apprehensively, "No, I don't think you should have any more."

"Let _go_ of me, idiot."

"N—"

Henry brusquely stood up, weak posture steadied by his hands on the table as he spoke. "I don't know about anyone else, but I came tonight to have a good time and just… _Forget_ about everything that's been going on."

"I know—"

"And with that, I'd like to leave," he said curtly.

"Henry, no…" He turned around and began to leave as Suzie subsequently followed suit.

"Suzie…"

"You know, Ruki," she began before turning her back, garnering the attention of the red faced woman, "I do look up to you," she declared simply. But despite the kindness of the words, the disappointment etched on her face was obvious and hauntingly potent.

As Henry made his way out the door, however, he was stopped in his tracks by a face from his daunting past—the one he had been too afraid to confront for almost a decade.

Hirokazu, equally as stunned, was barely able to hear Henry shakily breathe his name, despite having rehearsed this encounter for the last several, excruciating hours. He much easily could have shown up shitfaced drunk, stalking into the bar with a goddamned piece of his mind to bombard Henry with—how he was a coward, a hypocrite, a real asshole and an all-around _rotten_ human being for having unprotected sex with a woman while she was still dating his best friend. Despite having heard from the others that it wasn't he who initiated it, and that he'd been so guilty that he couldn't tell Hirokazu, he didn't want to listen to the pity party. _Poor Henry this, poor Henry that…_ He was sick of growing up in _Super Rational Henry_'s shadow as the Court Jester, and sick of hearing everyone else's excuses for his own misdemeanours.

But in spite of the bitterness sweltering inside of him, he was—finally—a grown-ass man. And that meant that even though he wanted to slap Henry around like the little bitch Hirokazu thought he was, he had to resolve this the way Ryo had taught him to.

"Uh, hi."

Henry, still in disbelief, didn't reply, and could only stare.

"I heard about Alice," he continued, still not getting a response. "And—"

"And to think," Henry finally said, interrupting him completely, "that this night could not get any worse."

His eyes, bloodshot and devoid of spirit, left Hirokazu's face as his frail frame brushed passed him, Suzie behind him as she shot Hirokazu an apologetic look.

"…—I'm sorry to hear it," he finished, Henry no longer in earshot.

-x-x-x-

She dragged herself toward the kitchenette, head pounding as she vaguely followed the smell of steaming miso and the sound of salmon sizzling in the pan.

"Morning, Pumpkin."

"…Mm," was the only thing her pulsing headache would allow her to say. She couldn't remember much of the night before—only that it was a pretty shitty one. "Time?" she asked, the word coming out much like a groan.

"About 10," he replied, flipping the salmon onto its other side.

"Oh shit I—"

"I called in sick for you."

"Oh." _Maybe I should be nicer about it._ "Thanks."

"Uhuh. Breakfast's nearly done."

His words were cool as they typically were, but she'd known him for long enough to realise that something about the way Ryo spoke to her was different.

"You're mad at me."

He didn't take his eyes off the salmon in the pan. "I am."

She didn't need to ask why. Sitting down, she put her aching head down and exhibited herself as a heap of arms and tresses of auburn hair sprawled out on the dining table.

"Do you even remember all of last night?"

"…Don't think so. It probably fucked up big time, huh," she murmured, voice muffled under her hair and arms.

"No, it wasn't too bad." Ruki looked up, a little surprised. "I mean at first it was a _national disaster_—no thanks to you, of course—"

"Yeah, thanks…"

"—But after Henry left, Hirokazu reconnected with Takato and Juri. It was nice, you know. Almost like everyone was back together again."

"But everybody _wasn't_ back together again."

"Well, if you'd stayed somewhat sober…"

"I get it." Ryo finished at the kitchenette and came to sit at the table with their breakfast—salmon, rice, miso soup and the odd boiled egg to share between the two of them. They said their mealtime rituals before digging in to eat, and Ruki quietly spoke up as she picked at her salmon, not totally sure her hangover allowed for an appetite at that point. "I could've handled that better," she admitted.

"You really could've."

She acknowledged the extra pieces of pickled radish on her plate. He knew she liked them. Even while he was mad at her.

"Sorry."

He glanced at her, somewhat startled at her early apology. "Look," he said. "It's okay. But _don't_ do it again."

"Yeah. I mean, I'll try." He gave her a look. "Okay, I won't."

"That's better."

She continued picking at her food, taking the occasional bite. "So, how'd we get home last night?"

"We took a cab with Hirokazu."

"Why didn't we take the train? It would've been way expensive to take a—"

"I know. You were too drunk and angry and yelling at all the bystanders."

"Right." Guess she did feel a little guilty about that. "Sorry."

"Wow," he chortled, "two apologies in one day. Gotta admit, baby, I'm a little impressed."

She rolled her eyes. "Funny. Did I throw up?"

"In the toilet. I held your hair back." He paused, before adding, "At home, by the way. Not at the bar."

"Okay. Thank _God_. Wouldn't want a repeat of my 20th birthday."

He laughed, recalling that night. "I missed my train back to Kyushu, remember? Because I was taking care of _you_," he grinned.

"Nobody asked you to."

"You threw up all over yourself! At the _train station_."

She snickered. "I'm a classy lady."

Ruki's late teens were full of messy nights, particularly on the weekends that Ryo came to visit. He often had to hold her hair back over the toilet back then too, the occurrence continuing well into her twenties. Things had settled down a little since moving in together though—the wild drunken night thing got a little bit old. She'd only purposely get hammered to make taking care of her on his visits worthwhile anyway; she had no other preferred way of expressing it, so it was her principal method of flirting.

She groaned again, holding her head. "Was getting wasted always this _lousy_?"

"I don't know. You seemed to really enjoy it before," he chuckled.

"Wonder what happened."

"Maybe you just grew up," he said with a laugh. "Or maybe domestication really does make people boring."

She gave a breathy laugh back in response, her head propped up on her hand.

"You know…" Ryo began, "We should probably apologise to Henry."

"What, why?"

"You know _why_. He seemed pretty upset. Poor guy looked terrible."

"Yeah, he doesn't seem like he's eating well."

"Yeah so maybe we should bring him something to eat, you know, as a peace offering. Kazu should come with us too."

"Hey—wait a minute, not this again. _'We should invite Hirokazu'_, '_we should apologise to Henry_', '_Kazu should come with us_'," she mimicked, "In case you haven't noticed, they're all _bad ideas_. Didn't I say that yesterday? Oh that's right, I did. But did you listen? _No_. No more fucking interventions, Akiyama, they never end well."

"I thought you _wanted_ them to make up—"

"I'm not going to have Hirokazu ruin two nights in a row."

He caught hold of her chin between his thumb and index, directing her to look him in his eyes sternly locked in a scowl. "As I recall, Ruki, you were the one that sent Henry away before Hirokazu could make peace with him. And don't forget—for all that crap you caused last night, you owe me."

The only thing she hated more than being wrong was Ryo being right—particularly when she knew that he hated it when she was right just as much.

"Fine," she growled. "But I don't think Kazu'll want to come."

"You said that yesterday too."

"And?"

"Well he came last night, didn't he?"

"That, Akiyama, is _exactly_ why he won't want to come."

-x-x-x-

"No way."

"Please, Kazu?" he begged.

"You saw what happened last night! He had the _nerve_ to insult me, after everything he's done to me! No way! No way in hell!"

"Don't be a baby."

Carrying with them a box of hot lunch, they stood in Hirokazu's doorway, attempting to coax their tall-haired friend into paying Henry a cordial visit. Hirokazu had the _'I'm a grown-ass man'_ talk with himself the day before, but he decided he was tired of being a grown-ass man. Being a grown-up was fucking overrated.

"I don't care_ what_ you say…"

"I'm mad at him for what he did to you, Kazu," Ryo told him. Hirokazu remained leaning on his doorframe, arms crossed. "But you have to understand that he's probably mad at himself, too."

"It sure didn't seem that way."

"Well you're not always right," Ruki snarled. "As it turned out, we're the ones that still know him best. What if we're the only ones that know him like that?" Hirokazu stubbornly stayed silent. "What if we're the only ones that bother to fix things with him? What if we _don't_? He just lost his _family_; he thinks he's _alone_ now. And he really will be if we don't _do_ anything." Hirokazu's face began to ease as it all sunk in, Ruki's eyes glazing over with each word she spoke. "You can't waste friendships like that," she finished softly.

Hirokazu sighed, running a distressed hand through his hair. She was the strongest person he knew, and he couldn't handle it when she was being like this; it must have been hard for her too. "…Just, let me get dressed, okay?"

The forty minute train ride from their Setagaya apartment block was quiet for the most part, neither Ruki, Ryo nor Hirokazu having even thought about what to say to him when they get there. _'Hello?' 'I'm sorry?' 'So how are you?'_ Nobody was going to look dumber than them fumbling at his doorstep.

After the birth of his son, Henry had relocated from Tokyo to the neighbouring Chiba, into the border-side prefecture of Myoden. He inherited his father's company when his older brother refused to, and with his newly found wealth bought a home in the high million mark. It was a feat almost unheard of for any green university graduate. Life was cruising along smoothly for Henry, prompting the man to become a target for the jealousy of many—particularly Hirokazu. The large family home seemed to serve as a materialisation of Henry's worldly success, and a distant reminder of what Hirokazu couldn't have.

Large, however, was a bit of an understatement.

Hirokazu, awestruck, could only continue gawking at the majestic home. "This house is… Wow. _Wow_. Clearly, he's done well for himself."

"Yeah it's pretty cool," Ruki observed offhandedly.

"Okay, obviously it has nothing on _your_ family home, Ruki, but it's still, you know, pretty swanky."

She snorted. "Whatever. Come on, boys, stop gawking and start walking. Let's go." They swung open the gate to his front lawn and followed the path onto the porch.

Ringing the doorbell, they waited.

When there was no answer, they rang it again, knocking on the door while they did.

"Maybe he's not home. Let's go."

"Not so fast, idiot. That's impossible, his car's still here."

"_Duh_, maybe he took the train?" Hirokazu retorted.

Ryo laughed. "Henry doesn't _take_ the train."

"Right."

"Guys, check the windows." Ryo pressed his head up against the window per his wife's request and had a look inside, feeling a little bit creepy. "Can you see anything?"

"No… No, can't see anything… Hey, what are we going to do if the neighbours see us? A bunch of thirty year olds hanging around the porch, peeping through the windows… I'm sure it'd alarm _some_body."

"Nobody's going to see us, just keep looking." Ryo began knocking incessantly on the window, still to no avail. "Wonder what he's doing."

Hirokazu, with hands on his hips, refused to partake any further, "Think about it—it's past noon on a Monday; don't you think he'd be at _work_? Don't you guys have _jobs_?"

Ryo turned his neck to look at them, hands still on the window. "No, he works from home most days like I do."

"And you, Ruki?"

"I'm sick, apparently."

"Don't _you_ have a job, Kazu?"

"I started working night shifts."

"See, we all—hey…!" she yelled.

"What? Night shifts aren't that bad."

"_No_, not that. Do you think he has a spare key?"

They all stopped to think for a moment. Henry certainly did strike them as the kind of guy who would keep a spare key out the front of the house—the question was _where_. He was a smart guy, and definitely creative enough to put it somewhere inconspicuous.

"Check the doormat," Hirokazu suggested.

Ruki scoffed at him. "The _doormat_? Unlike you, Henry's actually intelligent; he wouldn't keep it under the _doormat_."

"Look, when we were kids his family _always_ had their spare key under the doormat. If there's one thing I remember about him, it's that he's consistent. Just check it."

While Ruki kept a defiant stance with her arms crossed, Ryo got down to check under the mat. "…It's here."

"Told you."

"Shut up."

As they inserted the key and successfully opened the front door, they stepped into the eerily quiet home.

"Hello?" Ryo's voice echoed throughout the house.

No answer.

"Hen?"

They walked further into the home, dark and emptied out in a hurry. The basic furniture was all there—sofas, dining table, chairs—but personal belongings were scarce. Frames had been scattered and were missing photos, and the house had even no indication that it was ever inhabited by a child; just a lot of things and not a lot of stuff. It was a beautiful home, but it was cold and impersonal; the remnants of the chaos that took place.

"Guys," Ryo called, "the kettle's on."

_He's home then. Probably ignoring us._

They cautiously moved into the kitchen. Steam was wafting from the kettle, and there was an uneaten, wilting bowl of fruit left out on the counter.

"…Oh my God."

"Hen…!"

They immediately rushed to the unmistakeably unconscious body, face down on the kitchen floor.

Time came to a standstill as they desperately attempted to rouse him, Ruki barking orders at them to call in an ambulance instead.

"…Hen! Henry!"

Ryo remained on the phone to the emergency services as Hirokazu clung fiercely to his body.

"Don't worry, Hen," Ruki's quivering voice assured, "we've got an ambulance coming for you soon. Hang on…"

Hirokazu fought back tears, his bitterness withering away.

"Just hang on, buddy…"

* * *

_To be continued_

Coming soon – _Chapter III: "Friends"_

* * *

A/N: Feel free to PM any questions or confusions. Reviews appreciated!


	3. Friends

**Warning:** Strong language, snark and sexual references.

**A/N:** I've decided to convert Jenrya and Shiuchon's names into their English counterparts (Henry and Suzie), as they don't require Japanese names. Just easier to read.

* * *

_**Oldlyweds**_

Chapter III  
_"Friends"_

* * *

"_Aren't you coming to class?"_

"_Nah."_

_Hirokazu reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it as he crouched down against the wall._

"_H-hey! Are you crazy!?" he squealed. "What if someone smells something and catches us skipping class out here?"_

"_Relax, yo. Nobody's going to catch us."_

"_But the teacher's going to __kill__ you when he smells that on you."_

"_Nobody's going to __find__ us. Will you just chill, Hen? And just sit here with me?"_

"_No man, come to class. Come on, Kazu, please…" he begged. Henry was always one for the rules, keeping Hirokazu in line while he bent them all. When Hirokazu didn't budge, Henry sighed and gave in, sliding down the wall to squat down next to him. "If someone catches us, you're dead; there's no way you're bringing me down with you."_

"_Hah!_ _No way, I'm telling 'em you __gave__ me the smokes."_

_Henry jumped up, outraged. "W-what! You wouldn't…!"_

_Hirokazu laughed and took a puff. "Sorry bud, we're in this one together."_

-x-x-x-

The old doctor emerged from behind the waiting room door, Ruki, Ryo and Hirokazu standing up immediately as he did.

"Is he okay?"

"He's fine," the doctor replied, smiling warmly as he did. They collectively breathed a sigh of relief. "He was exhausted, sleep deprived and malnourished, but he'll be okay with the correct treatment. He also had an injury on his head resulting from it hitting something as he collapsed, it seems."

"Oh," Ryo said, "I think he was right near the kitchen counter…"

"That's probably it. Fortunately, he just missed out on having to be put on an official renourishment program, but he'll need someone to make sure that he's taking care of himself—is his wife here so I can brief her?"

The three of them exchanged glances before Ryo spoke up. "Um, actually…" he faltered. "He's still married, but he and his wife are, um, separated."

"Oh, sorry to hear that… Then…"

"That's—that's my job!"

They all turned their heads at the flustered Suzie as she frantically burst into the waiting room, huffing and puffing after coming all the way from work. "Is he—is he…? Okay…? Or…?" she panted.

"He's okay."

She collapsed onto the carpet beneath her, still wheezing. "Oh thank God…"

"And you are…?"

"His sister. You—needed someone to—brief to—…" she said in between pants, attempting to catch her breath.

"Yes, that's right. Do you currently live with your brother?"

"No—I—live alone—…"

"Well, okay, look… In order to guarantee a quick and thorough recovery, I would suggest temporary cohabitation. Of course, it's not mandatory—it _is_ your choice—but I'm just saying that it would be ideal…"

"I don't personally _mind_, but I'm not sure if my work would allow for it…"

"No no, no alteration of your work schedule is necessary, as long as you make sure that he's adhering to the diet and non-vigorous exercise plan that I've arranged for him while you're out."

"That's fine. How long would he need to be on this plan for?"

"Three months minimum, in which he may also return to work in the latter month and a half. After the three months, granted he has conscientiously followed the plan, you won't need to assist him anymore but I'd recommend you to still check up on him every once in a while."

"I understand. So what now? Can we see him?"

"He'll be free to go tonight. I trust you'll take good care of him, Miss Lee."

"I'll try."

-x-x-x-

"_Thanks, Hirokazu. I'll give this back to you tomorrow."_

"_Hey, it's no problem," he replied, eyes fixated on her backside swaying side to side as she walked away._

_Henry, next to him, leaned into Hirokazu to whisper, "Uh, and __how__ are you supposed to do your paper without the textbook?"_

_A stupid grin still lingered on Hirokazu's face. "Who __cares,__ isn't she cute?"_

_Henry sighed. "…What makes you think you even have a chance?"_

"_Just look at that blonde hair and those blue eyes… And that __rack__."_

"_Are you even listening to me?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_You have to hand that paper in, you know. You want to __graduate__, don't you?"_

_Hirokazu ignored him. "If a hot blonde angel needed to borrow your textbook, wouldn't you give it to her?"_

"_I dunno. I'm not really into foreigners. Besides, you're a dweeb."_

"_Henry, I'd prefer to call myself an opportunist." _

_He rolled his eyes. "The teacher's going to flunk you."_

"_Don't __worry__; we can share __your__ textbook. We'll go halves."_

_Hirokazu's straight C's were no contest for Henry's A's, and the very idea of going halves on a paper with Hirokazu made Henry nauseous. He was much too focused on avoiding any conflict to say anything though, and much too good of a friend to deny his best one a grade good enough to at least __barely__ graduate high school._

"…_Fine. But you're paying for snacks."_

-x-x-x-

He tentatively stepped through the door, visibly uncomfortable. "I'm really fine to go home, you know."

"You're staying with me, big brother, whether you like it or not."

"All my things are at home and…"

"You can get it tomorrow. Wear some of Taka's stuff for tonight."

"Wouldn't he mind me being here?"

"No, actually, we broke up."

"…Oh." After three years, he'd expected them to be heading towards marriage by then. _But then again, what would I know about that? _"I thought you would've told me, Suze. You always brought him when you came around for dinner."

"I know, but it happened around the time you and Alice, you know, separated. I didn't want to add gravity to the situation."

"Oh." He sat down slowly on her sofa, admiring the spotless apartment and quaint, feminine décor. She was always thoughtful. "Thanks."

"The sofa you're sitting on is a pull-out couch, by the way. It's okay to sleep on, right? Or do you want my bed?"

"No, anything's fine," he replied.

She looked at him, concerned at his every slow move; the sluggish turn of his head, and his tired, glazed eyes. She could barely remember playing together as kids, when he brought her along to hang out with his friends, or the way he stuck up for her when their older siblings didn't. She could barely remember why she had admired him so much, and a horrible knot grew in the pit of her stomach. Was it disappointment? Guilt? A combination of the two? After all, she had forgotten, as he turned into an empty shell, that he was once—to her—the greatest man alive, and he was now sitting broken on her couch, gangly fingers wrapped around one another.

Maybe what she had really forgotten was how to be his sister again.

"Henry?"

"Yeah?"

"Just—if you need anything…"

"Yeah I'll, um, let you know." He paused for a moment. "Thanks, you know, for this."

"It's okay."

It was more than okay. She had been absent from her brother's life for most of her adulthood, to the point that the separation had come as a shock to her, when maybe it really shouldn't have had she paid attention.

"Henry?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright?"

He smiled weakly at her, otherwise charming smile lines like creases on an unironed shirt. "Not really, no."

But she had to stop blaming herself, she thought. They've just grown up. And growing up is hard.

-x-x-x-

_Overlooking the Tokyo skyscrapers and lights dotting the streets below, Henry sought solitude on the tiny apartment balcony. He breathed a sigh of relief and closed his eyes to bask in the warm spring air, liberated from the haze of cigarette smoke and raging pseudo-urban dance pop monstrosity. He'd walked out hoping to be alone, though amidst his reverie he hadn't noticed that there was someone else on the balcony, and like him, seemingly getting away from the bustle of the housewarming party and Hirokazu's drunken frat boy friends inside._

"_Getting away from the smoke too?"_

"_Nah, I just hate parties."_

_Henry laughed. "You and me both."_

_They stood in comfortable silence, elbows dangling freely over the balcony railing. Hirokazu was intoxicated again, and he'd turn into the colossal douchebag type he normally bitched about at college, repelling everyone that had even a slight awareness of anyone other than themselves. Despite having lively friends, they were all terrible drunks, and Henry and Alice would always be the ones stuck carrying Hirokazu home. They were the voices of reason behind the boisterous Hirokazu, and although they'd joke about what Hirokazu would even do without them, the laughing stopped at the thought of someone asking how __they__'d fare without __him__._

_He looked at Alice again, staring down at the people below, and he noticed trouble crinkling her brows._

"_Hey, Alice, you alright?" he asked._

_She looked at him, surprised. "I'm fine—great—okay."_

_He spurted out a dry laugh. "You're not very convincing." Alice smiled wryly. "C'mon," he said, "it's your one year anniversary soon. Whatever it is, just forget about it."_

_She laughed. "You know, you're pretty shit at cheering people up."_

_Unfazed, he shrugged nonchalantly, a smirk on his face. "You'd have to be a cheery person to do that."_

"_Not necessarily."_

_He chuckled. She was vague as hell, as always. "So, what __is__ bothering you?"_

_She turned toward him and her eyes, crystalline blue, pierced right through him as she propped her head up on her hand. "Okay, this is weird, but I don't know what to get Kazu for our anniversary. I mean, I'm supposed to know, right? I'm his girlfriend, for God's sake."_

"_You're doing a good job. I mean, he loves you a __lot__."_

"_Well, I mean, he let it slip today that he has something huge planned for me, and I was like, 'shit'." He laughed at her, eliciting a somewhat annoyed response. "What?"_

"_You know what Kazu said the problem with people like us was?"_

"_What's that?"_

"_He said that, we think so much we forget to 'do'."_

_She placed_ _a thoughtful finger on her chin. _"_My God," she said, "he's actually right."_

_They laughed together, Kazu's insightfulness a pleasant surprise. "I'll tell you what," Henry propositioned, "I'll help you pick something out for him. Are you doing anything tomorrow?"_

"_No, I'm free."_

"_Okay. It'll be a good Saturday spent."_

"_Good." She smiled. "Hey Hen,"_

"_What?"_

"_You did cheer me up, you know."_

-x-x-x-

Ruki collapsed onto the sofa as soon as she came in the door, Ryo trailing behind her with their dinner, rice balls à la the convenience store downstairs, in a plastic bag. The train ride home from the hospital was long, tense, and draining. It was well into midnight, and the nightwalking homeless were emerging into visibility at the train station entrances while drunken businessmen were beginning to come out of the bars to pass out right by them.

"You okay, baby?"

Unflinching, she groaned, "I'm fucking _tired_." He lovingly sat down beside her body spread over the couch and lifted her head into his lap. "Just… tired," she repeated softly.

He brought a masculine hand to stroke her cheek, caressing the stray hairs out of her face. "It's okay," he soothed.

Her vacant eyes didn't leave the ceiling as memories from years before briefly surfaced. She was beginning to understand why people constantly associated beauty, strength, _happiness_, with youth—although she wasn't sure whether that was really true or whether it was because they were drunk all the time.

"Adults are always tired," she mused aloud, more a fragment of her string of consciousness than actual conversation. "Dad was tired… Alice was tired… But I don't wanna be tired, you know? I don't wanna be tired of each other like everyone else is, or tired of you."

"They're not tired of each other," he said.

"Then what?"

His voice was like syrup being poured, drowning her in it. "They're tired of themselves."

She kept quiet, letting his words sink in. They'd all been friends, after all, since elementary school. Although many of their first fights, first dates, first kisses and first break-ups had been amongst each other, they always worked out a system to heal the burns. The system was simple; reprimand the asshole, comfort the victim, grab a coffee (of course, "grab a coffee" then turned into "drink selves into oblivion" a few years later). Then, everything was okay, and everything stayed okay.

There was the possibility that everyone had just forgotten how to work things out without a system. Or were too busy with their problems to realise that they didn't need to solve them on their own; as adults, everybody only liked to _think_ that their lives were too complicated to let people in. Maybe what she needed to do was love them on their behalf—remind them that their exhaustion could really just be loneliness.

She wasn't really into any of that mushy shit, but it was the first step, and she'd always been a 'plunge' kind of woman.

"I miss them too, you know," Ryo told her. "I was a little older but, you guys were my only friends in Tokyo back then. We had good times, y'know. And I don't forget memories like that."

She said nothing again, and he continued.

"But that's exactly what they are, honey—memories. I'd love everyone back together again, but we've been trying too hard to recreate the friendship that we used to have. I mean, we're not the same people as we were ten years ago." He fiddled with the ends of her hair as he spoke, in an almost _nervous_ calm. "We all just need a fresh start. That may be what they're looking for too," he continued.

"I'm not so sure—"

"—It'll happen," he assured her.

She paused. "You better promise."

"I promise," he whispered, before hunching over to kiss her on her forehead. "So, you still feel like eating?"

"No. Bed," she groaned.

"Okay." He got up from under her head and walked over to the fridge. "Hey," he said, as he put the rice balls inside, "if you ever feel like you're getting tired of yourself, think about who you are. It's just your mind playing tricks on you. Face it, pumpkin, you love yourself."

He was right. She was Ruki fucking Makino. She was tenacious, sharp, and great in bed. Nobody fucked with her.

"Obviously not as much as you love me, though."

Her gaze left the ceiling, and she found herself with a smile.

"Whatever." He was right again.

-x-x-x-

_Just back from a celebratory family dinner, Henry cautiously walked through the buzzing hallway to the door toward the end, dapper in a grey suit. His perfectly groomed head popped in to take a peek through the open door, and there were miscellaneously labelled boxes strewn around the room as books covered the floor and piles upon piles of clothing obscured the beds. Typical girl's room, he thought._

"_Hey," he whispered. "Alice!"_

"_Whaaat?" she slurred, sleepy vacant eyes meeting his gaze._

"_Are you… drunk?"_

"_No," she lied. "Are you?"_

"_Well I did have a few drinks but—"_

"—_So what of it?"_

"_Nothing, I guess…" It wasn't 'nothing'; Alice was __never__ drunk. "Um, have you seen Kazu?"_

"_He's ssstill at the bar, celebratin'."_

"_Why'd you come back early?"_

"_I gotta pack, dude. Why—why the __hell__ are you hidin' behind the door?"_

"_Uh, hello, guys aren't allowed in the girls dorms!"_

"_Uh, __hellooo__, we just __graduated__. What're they gunna do, kick me out?" She laughed, and motioned him to come inside. Henry hesitantly stepped into her room and closed the door behind him. "Come sit!" she insisted, patting the heap of clothes on the bed next to her._

_He obliged, and as he sat he watched her clumsily pack her belongings into the wrong boxes. He found it strange that she would leave their graduation party early without Hirokazu, and even __stranger__ that she was drunk._

"_Um, did you and Kazu have a fight?"_

_She looked at him and laughed, somewhat manically. It wasn't really his style to be direct, but when things were out of place, he often felt the most responsible for putting it back together. It was his biggest flaw, naturally._

"_He's an asshole," she drawled._

"_Come on…"_

"_He's a shitty, shitfaced, shitty drunk, ya know. I'm sick of it. And—and I told him and he just blew up and he's nnnot usually an asshole but then he starts drinking and then __becomes__ an asshole and he tells me all this shit about how all these other girls are in love with him and how __lucky__ I am to even __be__ with him and—"_

"_Woah__, Alice, calm down!" He slid down the bed to sit on the floor beside her and Henry, effectively perplexed, attempted to console her with an awkward pat on the back while she drunkenly blubbered into his shirt. Although at first bewildered, he snaked a comforting arm around her, slowly pacifying the abnormally ruffled Alice. "C'mon, you know how he gets when he's drunk." Her body began to relax as he gently shushed her into silence. "If anything," he murmured, "he's the lucky one."_

_She looked up and their eyes locked again. "Ya think so?"_

"_Well yeah, I mean, look at you; you're __insanely__ smart, freaking __beautiful__, and—"_

_His next word was muffled as she closed the gap between them and consumed him in a fierce kiss. He was alarmingly aware that it encompassed all the levels of wrong, but he didn't even know how long he'd subconsciously been waiting for this to happen. _

_The entire days at a time that they spent together talking about—and then eventually forgetting—Hirokazu flashed through his mind as he couldn't even bring himself to stop, and sank deeper into the kiss. Although Henry had always supported Kazu and Alice's two year courtship, the whole year he knew he liked her was painfully slow, and all the waiting must've taken a brutal toll on his willpower as it wasn't long until the bed was cleared and just previously-worn clothing was discarded onto all corners of the tiny dorm room._

_But amidst the intense fervour of the kisses and skin under their fingers, even the immaculately sensible can forget—a small plight of forgetfulness that would be reaped nine months later…_

-x-x-x-

Henry laid down on the pulled-out couch with a blanket draped over him. He dismissively flicked through the channels, more of an idle dabble of his hands rather than an actual desire to watch TV. Well passed a week at his sister's home, other than "eating right", it was all he'd been doing. Suzie had suggested that he probably take walks—but he declined; walking left way too much time for thinking.

Alice's departure didn't come as a surprise to him. It was somewhat more akin to relief which, although was the more fitting term, was hardly appropriate. His almost eight year marriage had, after all, been built on the one semi-drunken night and the guilt had lingered in the air for just as long. His son, though, he did not regret. He just wanted to see him.

The doorbell rang, and while Henry ignored it, Suzie ran right passed him for the door. His trance-like gaze was still on the TV while the clacking of the door and shuffling of the shoes sank into the background, and Henry didn't even see the tall brown hair from the corner of his eye.

"Hey."

But it was that voice from his past—ironically, the better half it—that broke him out of his daze.

Hirokazu stood by the doorway, a paper bag in his hand and fatigue in his stature.

"…Hi."

* * *

_To be continued_

Coming soon – _Chapter IV: "Forever"_

* * *

A/N: R and R!_  
_


	4. Forever

**Warning:** Strong language, snark and sexual references.

* * *

_**Oldlyweds**_

Chapter IV  
_"Forever"_

* * *

"Hey, Suzie, sorry for intruding, I know it's late." Hirokazu sheepishly handed her the paper bag, obligatory sweets inside. "Luckily I still had your number, huh."

"Thanks, Kazu! You really didn't have to," she grinned.

"C'mon, I haven't seen you in forever…"

"Thanks," she repeated, a sweet smile still on her face. She sensed the blanket of tension between the two and Suzie, being the youngest of four, always knew when to leave.

"I um, have to go get some groceries, so I'll be at the store…"

She promptly grabbed her coat and disappeared out the door, leaving Henry and Hirokazu in a vacuum of discomfited silence. Hirokazu's eyes fell and suddenly found his shoes interesting as Henry began to make out shapes in the carpet. There was really no word that Henry was able to fathom to express his embarrassment—about that night the week before, about that night eight _years_ before… And about how much credit he gave himself as a friend.

"How, um, are you?"

"Good," Hirokazu replied, unintentionally curt. "You?"

Henry steadily bobbed his head. "I'm okay."

"That's good." Who was Henry trying to kid?

The clock on the wall read 8pm. Hirokazu could've been on a date right then, or at the bar with his friends, or at his computer with his pants around his ankles. A bear trap clamped over his testicles would've been less painful than this, because there was nothing left to be said. Hirokazu was over it. It had been eight years, and he didn't know _how_ he felt about it anymore.

_God._

"I don't want to be here, you know."

Henry looked him in the eyes for the first time that night. "Then why are you here?"

He didn't know. "I don't know." Henry laughed, and Hirokazu scrunched his face up in bewilderment. "What?"

"You don't know why you're here? You're here to pity me!" Hirokazu grew more perplexed. Henry was… _Amused_.

Hirokazu's mouth went up in a half-smile.

"Why don't you sit down?"

Back then, after every fight, Hirokazu would typically come back and check up on him. Henry had always been a heavyweight on presentation, but his heart had the tenderness of the moon, guarded as heavily as his buoyancy would allow. There was a sliver of hope for that evening though: that maybe they didn't have to be consumed by awkward exchanges and second-rate segues after all. But as he sank further into the armchair, the little hope dissipated when Henry warily shifted away from Hirokazu's nearby form.

"Great…" he muttered under his breath.

It was the minutest of movements, only detected by an eye trained by years of close companionship. Hirokazu felt himself begin to boil over—why was he acting like he was the victim?

_Because that's how you're used to be being treated._

"You know what? I'm sick of this shit." Hirokazu abruptly stood up to face him. "_Sick_."

"W-What?"

"You _always_ did this."

"Did what?"

He started to raise his voice. "_Acted_ like this! And y'know what else? I'm _glad_ you feel bad about what you did, because you should. I'm _glad_ all you do is drag your feet around and feel sorry for yourself. I'm _glad_ everyone thinks you're _so_ big for beating yourself up about it. I'm just fucking _glad_."

An insolent finger found its way to Henry's face at point blank range, directing eight years of stifled raw, unadulterated rage. When news of the pregnancy and impending wedding had broken, Hirokazu had had a brief fit and shortly left. The nasty bruise on Henry's face remained as a keepsake for days after.

"Did you call me _once_ after you got married? No, you didn't. _Poor_ you, you must've just been feeling _so_ bad about everything that you just _forgot_—forgot that you made a child with _my_ girlfriend at the time. _Mine_."

Henry began to shake as he brought his hands up to cup his face, and a muffled voice cried, "I'm sorry."

Hirokazu rolled his thoroughly glassy eyes, suppressing any feelings of mercy. He couldn't stand that Henry used to be someone he so vehemently admired.

"I tried to call you again and again after it happened—"

"But you _stopped_!" he yelled, startling the disoriented Henry. "You _gave up on me_, man!"

"I'm sorry, man… I'm sorry…" he repeated, as the tears began to seep through his fingers.

The room was still, and only the sound of Hirokazu's breathing accompanied his heaving chest. He kept his glare fixated on Henry voicelessly hunched over on the sofa, standing his guard until his expression began to soften. He reassessed the man, crumbling shard by shard right before him, and he couldn't bring himself to put him through any more of it.

The corner of his mouth twitched sympathetically. "H-Hey…"

They've both suffered, but maybe it would be okay to let it go. Maybe being a grown-ass man wouldn't be such a bad thing.

"Stop it…"

Hirokazu composed himself, and, although refusing to comfort him, decided to sit back down on the armchair and not perpetuate his grief. Hirokazu suddenly remembered why he was there—to see how pathetic Henry was, and relish in it. But he couldn't, and he knew, the second he got there, how fucked up it was to want that.

Henry had begun to collect himself, and had released his face from his hands to slump back onto the sofa. He wiped the residual tears off his face all the while avoiding Hirokazu's eyes.

It was a while before he spoke again.

"What the hell happened to us?" he pondered aloud.

Hirokazu laughed wryly. "You tell me."

They sat in silence a bit longer, averting eye contact, hoping the other would initiate some sort of reconciliation speech because it sure as hell wasn't going to be themselves. Fuck forgiving and fuck apologising. Fuck civility. They just wanted it to be over already.

Henry opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated.

The gesture didn't go unnoticed by Hirokazu. "What?"

"My son's moving to Ireland with his mother," he said quietly. "I don't know what I'll do without him."

Hirokazu offered him a considerate half-smile, which Henry gladly took. It was something.

He pursed his lips together, somewhat bashfully before speaking again. "I really am sorry."

Hirokazu sighed. "I know." He paused. "Me too."

Henry nodded appreciatively, and a momentary silence fell again. Hirokazu seemed increasingly content, however, until Henry opened his mouth again, his voice low.

"She loved you, you know."

It was the last thing he wanted to hear. What did Henry expect him to say? _Thank you_? Hirokazu thought about if love would have changed anything, and came to the conclusion that 'love' _was_ the inoperable word. It was a useless—completely useless—sentiment.

Finding himself unable to produce another word or coherent thought, Hirokazu grabbed his shoes and left.

It was finally over.

-x-x-x-

"Miss Juri! It's nice to see you again!" the waitress grinned. She bent down to greet the little girl in the adjacent chair. "Hi, Erika!"

Juri offered a beaming smile to the young waitress, as little Erika eagerly flip-flopped a chubby arm in her direction.

"Could I get the usual for you?" The young waitress asked, notepad ready.

"I think I'd love a latte today. As for Erika…"

"Milk, pwease!" she chirped.

The waitress didn't hold back a giggle before writing the orders down. "Would you like anything else?"

"That's all, thanks."

"Sure. You know, my little sister'll be in middle school soon. She still talks about how much she misses you."

"Oh yeah? They grow up so quickly!" she exclaimed, tucking a shoulder-length strand of chestnut hair behind her ear. "I miss the kids too. I think I'll start teaching again once Erika gets a little older though," she told her, stroking her daughter's head.

"Yeah? That sounds great." She took the menus off the table to tuck under her arm. "Your husband not joining you today, Miss?"

"No, he's at the restaurant again. He never has Saturday off anymore."

"Oh well. The glamorous life of a chef, right?"

"Yeah," she said with a laugh.

"What about that redheaded friend of yours? She was pretty."

Only down the road from campus, it was their favourite spot during university, and many afternoons were spent either studying or fending off sleazy college girl fetishists that frequented the café in hopes of bedding something tighter than their mortgages. From then, brunch and coffee together at the quaint little café was their routine every other Saturday, and although they'd arranged to meet today, Juri hadn't spoken to the redheaded friend in question for the two weeks since the dinner.

"Oh, she couldn't make it today," she lied. "She's, um, busy."

"Oh that's too bad. Anyway, let me put your order in and I'll be right back with your drinks, okay?" Juri nodded and smiled her thanks.

It was raining outside, a contrast to the warm, woody interior of the charming café. The little light that did stream through the large windows was dim and cast a ghostly glow on all its occupants, making a gloomy day even gloomier for Juri. It wasn't the first time she and Ruki had stopped talking for a period of time, although when it did happen it was purely out of busyness than out of any hard feelings… Which was what she would _like_ to think, but as the pounding of the rain drowned out her deliberations, she was increasingly unable to find an excuse as to why they couldn't make their friendship work as well as it used to.

Juri stared blankly out the window as passer-bys briskly challenged the rain. _But I guess everyone has their own demon to face, _she thought.

The bell above the door jingled again, and as their drinks arrived, Juri didn't even notice the exasperated redhead drenched at the entrance.

Juri quickly gave her daughter, occupied with crayons and a colouring book, a peck on the hair before taking a sip of her latte, her eyes closing in delight as she inhaled the nutty aroma. As she opened her eyes, she was startled to find Ruki making her way towards their table, her damp coat slung over her arm.

She stopped right at the table.

"W-What are you doing here…?"

"I marked our date in my planner."

Juri averted her eyes. "You're not answering my question—"

"—I'm _here_…" She hesitated. "…To apologise."

Juri eyebrows shot up, in somewhat pleasant surprise. "Oh."

"Don't look at me like that," she snarled. "Why is everyone so surprised when I say that?"

"Because you _never_—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Ruki took an empty chair from a nearby table and sat, receiving a little wave from the busied Erika. "Hi, Aunt Ruki!" she beamed.

Ruki offered a small smile to the little girl. "Hi. God, you're getting bigger."

Erika grinned before getting back to her colouring, and Ruki shifted her attention to Juri.

"Um, so, how's the baby?"

"Good, I guess," she replied, subconsciously rubbing her stomach as she spoke.

"That's good." A pause drifted by, faint chatter and the jingling bell still continuing in the background. "Look…" she began. "I've been thinking a lot."

"…And?"

"What I'm trying to say is, I was at home, and I couldn't decide whether it was a good idea to show up or not today. But Ryo told me to—"

Juri frowned. "Of _course_ Ryo told you to come—"

"I only listened to him because I knew he was right," she begrudgingly admitted.

Juri said nothing, prompting her to continue.

"I just—_miss_ everyone. Us, especially," she muttered. "We hardly ever just _talk_ anymore."

Juri gave a small, sad smile. "I know," she acknowledged. "But, it's hard to find time, you know. I've got Erika."

And Ruki knew, especially with another one on the way, that this was the way things were always going to be.

But she decided she wouldn't give up, because Ruki realised that at her age, significant friendships were scarcely made, and taking the important people for granted only validated that fact.

"And look, Juri, this whole thing has made me realise that I treat you like _dirt_."

Juri shrugged in vague agreement. "Look, the fact that you're only realising this now is more surprising, really…"

Ruki took a deep breath. Apologies always made her embarrassed—both uncharacteristic. "I'm sorry," she declared. "For, you know, being a bitch."

She carefully whispered the last word to not garner the unnecessary attention of Juri's three-year-old, and Juri was briefly silent in contemplation. The apology was long warranted for, but it was almost as though Ruki was apologising for who she was—which she definitely wouldn't want. She didn't want her to not believe in her goodness because, abrasive or not, Ruki had always been an incredible friend.

Juri looked up and smiled at her friend, placing her small dainty hand on top of hers. "Ruki, honey, I appreciate that you realise you need to think about some of the things you say before you say them, but, you know I'll never leave you because of it."

Ruki returned the smile. She then took both of Juri's hands in hers and entwined their fingers before murmuring, "I just don't want you to think that I don't love you."

-x-x-x-

The weather was getting cold again; winter was coming. It had been six months since Ruki's birthday fiasco, and despite the vicious rocking of the boat, things had even returned to an improved standard of normal. To Ryo's delight, with a vanishing state of unrest, Ruki had less on her mind, and therefore more leeway for seduction.

And so in their dimly lit room, Ryo rolled her onto her back, and kissed her again.

He hovered over her, fists on either side wrinkling their bed sheets. Her arms snaked around his neck, bringing his head down and to leave feverish kisses on his lips, warm fingertips messing up his otherwise neatly tousled hair.

"Ruki," he breathlessly called, eyes still closed.

"Mmm…" He undid her buttons to reveal her bra and began to peel the blouse off her body, his mouth still on hers.

"Ruki," he called once more, trailing kisses down her neck.

"Mmm…" she moaned again, and started to unzip the obfuscating grey pencil skirt annoyingly constricting her thighs. _Leg wrapping be damned_ it said. But what fun would that be?

Out of all their after work routines, this one was by far their favourite. Twilight was enclosing on them, and nothing cured Ruki's nine-to-five syndrome like a good old shag. It had been a week, and, after a long day, Ryo would stop at nothing to please his normally cranky missus—

—Except for the incessant ringing of his mobile phone.

"Don't you dare get that," Ruki growled, hands still clutched into his hair.

It then stopped, and relief swept over them.

He continued tending to her neck, until it was Ruki's phone that began to ring.

"Baby… Don't… Get that…"

"Mmm… Won't…"

The ringing didn't stop until, fed up, an infuriated Ruki slammed her hand into the abominable phone and answered it.

"_What,_" she barked.

Indistinct chatter followed.

"…Wait, what?"

As Ruki hung up the phone to tell her husband the news, their scattered clothing was frantically reworn and they sloppily bolted out the door with only minimal belongings. They took their chances at the thinning end of rush hour and opted for a taxi, a gamble, they knew, for anyone with little time to spare. There was an upside though; the solitude that came with the ride gave them the time they needed to take a breather and unabashedly run through the butterflies, anticipation, and excitement they shared, maintaining a fierce grip on the other's hand.

Neither of them contained their grins as they looked out the window and then back at each other. Through all the drama and bullshit, there was hope that they had finally arrived at that light at the end of the tunnel. Despite the upstanding physical and emotional distance, there was a certain heightened sense of euphoria surrounding the birth of Takato and Juri's second child that nobody could quite explain, a possible unspoken mark of hope for their friendship.

As they pulled up at the hospital, they quickly paid the driver and scampered inside, subsequently making their way to the maternity ward. As they closed into the ward, so did the calm, and they coolly walked hand-in-hand into the waiting room, finding Henry, Suzie, and little Erika on her lap, all sitting idly by the water cooler.

They jumped up at Ruki and Ryo's arrival.

"Hey!"

"How long have they been in there?"

"Several hours, I think," Suzie replied. "We only just got here too. Poor Erika got scared every time her mum had a contraction." Ruki ruffled an affectionate hand in Erika's hair.

They took a seat across from Henry and Suzie, collapsing back into the chair as they began to relax.

"…_Fuck_."

They all turned to Ruki. "What?"

"We forgot to bring Kazu."

"Oh crap—"

"—Woah, hey, Takato called me too, you know!" Hirokazu's unexpected appearance startled the three of them, Henry in particular. The last he had seen of Hirokazu was his back, leaving his sister's apartment. "I'm not out of the loop _yet_," he winked.

He took the seat closest to him, by Henry, leaving a seat in between them. He gave Henry an acknowledging nod that was then returned, but nothing else was exchanged.

Hours passed as did idle chatter among the four of them and occasionally Erika. Sporadically, they would freeze at the distant sound of Juri's screaming voice from the delivery room, and Takato would come in and out as they took turns to check up on her in between contractions—nothing better than sharing a few laughs to keep a girl's mind off cervical dilation, right?

There were few others in the waiting room with them, and the atmosphere in which the night progressed was, although exciting, somewhat blasé compared to the time of Erika's birth. Of course, back then, only an unmarried Ruki and Ryo were present, along with Hirokazu and Suzie, whom, considering the circumstances, had both decided that it would be fun to turn the waiting room into Awkward City for the night. And there was that whole stressful 15-hour first labour thing too. The entire experience had been a mess of sweat, blood and fatal discomfort.

Tonight, however, was one of the first nights of their new beginning.

Hirokazu boyishly slouched in his chair as he waited, fiddling with his recently emptied can of vending machine coffee. Henry, two seats away, had uncharacteristically opted to stay out of the lively conversation blossoming between Suzie, Ruki and Ryo, and appeared to be kept busy by his open wallet in his hand. Curiously, Hirokazu craned his neck to inconspicuously peer at the wallet's contents, a single pocket-sized photograph seeming to be the object of Henry's attention.

It was a charming picture of a striking Eurasian boy—mussed brown hair, charmingly placed freckles, gallant smile—undoubtedly Henry and Alice's son.

"Is that him?" Hirokazu asked.

"Yeah," he answered, without looking way from the photograph. "His name's Tomo."

Hirokazu couldn't help but notice something about him as he spoke. It was a feeling he had at the pit of his stomach, and it was odd, but not unfamiliar.

Anybody that loved their son that much shouldn't have had to look so sad.

His heart sank further as he looked closer at the photograph of the sweet young boy. He had Henry's smile, but indisputably Alice's eyes, nose and chin… And his eyes began to glaze over.

In some alternate reality, he could have been Hirokazu's son.

And it hit him.

"Where is he now? Has he…?"

"No, they're still preparing to move. The divorce hasn't been finalised yet."

Hirokazu said nothing, but reached out to place a sympathetic hand on Henry's shoulder.

"…Thanks."

"You… Okay?"

Henry paused to think for a moment, before answering, "Actually, yeah… I think I am."

A shy smile surfaced. For the first time in nearly nine years, things finally felt okay.

A sharp, frenzied cry broke the calm in the waiting room, however, and it came to their attention that after a gruelling six hour labour, the delivery of Juri's baby was finally in progress. Held in tight suspense, they all held their breaths right outside the delivery room door, waiting out Juri's agonised shrieking, and Takato's aggressive attempts to encourage her throughout the birth. Although the cries from inside began to distress little Erika to tears, after an excruciating hour, the yelling began to calm down and was replaced by a shrill, hearty newborn's cry. They waited a bit more, and after making sure it was clear they all crept into the delivery room to take a peek.

Juri sat propped up on the bed, holding a bundle of flannel, a little pink head protruding from it. Takato had an affectionate hand on the baby's head, and they both wore tired, satisfied, smiles.

"Come say hello to your baby brother, Erika," Takato beckoned her, and the little girl eagerly scurried to her baby brother's side, a huge beaming smile on her face. "This is Aki."

They soon took turns holding the baby, engaging in involuntarily baby talk as they did. Aki only cooed in response, but it was enough to win them over. They had fallen in love with baby Aki, and there was no way they were missing out on his life like they, regretfully, did Erika's.

Later on, as the night neared its close, they bid their goodnights to Takato and Juri, leaving kisses for their children.

They gathered by the elevator, not yet ready to part ways.

"So… I'll be off," said Suzie.

Hirokazu stopped her. "Wait—"

"What?"

"Do you guys wanna grab a coffee?"

"It's like, eleven o'clock…"

"So?"

They all looked to each other, at first unsure, then approvingly.

"Yeah, okay, sure."

"Great," he smiled.

"Henry, you coming?" Suzie asked.

He looked exhausted, as he had lately, but still healthier than he did six months prior. He didn't feel as though it was his place to join in, seeing as how he had evaded so many opportunities to reconnect with them throughout the years, only occasionally tagging along when Suzie took the initiative. Declining was only appropriate.

"No, I'm a little tired, I think I'll p—"

"Come," Hirokazu said.

But, he thought, if the person that someone hurt the most was willing to forgive them, could it mean that even they could get a second chance at a meaningful life?

"Just come," he insisted.

"O—…" he choked. "—Okay."

Yes, it did.

* * *

{fin}

* * *

A/N: And that wraps up this story. Thank you to everybody who has stuck with it since the beginning, and hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Also, my apologies for any confusion (which you are all more than welcome to ask about) and to anybody who was offended by my dirty, dirty mouth (but I'm not actually that sorry).

Thank you all, and good night.


End file.
